Martial Arts: History and Historical Figures

Ryukyu Money 1600-1870

Editor's Note: This pictorial article on early Ryukyu Money focuses on the coinage progressively used in trade and commerce, although within the Ryukyu Kingdom's feudal society everyday economic activity traditionally centered on barter and payment in goods.

Rate This Article Select your Rating Your Comments: (Please add your name or initials) Your email address: (Required) (Check here if you would like to receive our newsletter)

Acknowledgement

Readers interested in more details should see: Gregory Smits, "Money in the Kingdom of Ryukyu" in Thomas Hirzel and Nanny Kim, eds.,  Metals, Monies, and Markets in Early Modern Societies: East Asian and Global Perspectives. Special issue of Bunka-Wenhua, vol. 17 (2008): 107-117. Gregory James Smits, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of History and East Asian Studies  at Pennsylvania State University noted for his research into the history of Ryukyu/Okinawa. He is the author of numerous research papers and academic articles on Ryukyuin (early Okinawan) political and economic subjects his specialty area, author of the "Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics"  (University of Hawaii Press, 1999) and co-editor of "Economic Thought in Early-Modern Japan" (Brill, 2010). Other professional activities include being Co-Organizer of and coordinator of communications for the second international symposium of the International Society for Ryukyuan Studies, March 24, 1994, Reischauer Institute, Harvard University and Manuscript reviewer for D.C. Heath and Company, Bedford/St. Martin's Press, Harvard University Press, University of Hawaii Press, the Journal of Asian Studies,The Historian, and the Journal of Japanese Studies, and several other academic journals.